


The Life and Times of the Maximoff Family

by AcesOfSpade



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Coming Out, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gay Male Character, Human Vision (Marvel), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, wedding anniversary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 02:38:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8560111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: Marya and Erik Maximoff are the twin children of Wanda Maximoff and Jonas Stark, born five minutes apart. Despite being polar opposites, the two are best friends. They do nearly everything as a pair, and they are always there for each other.This is their story, starting in their junior year of high school.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LaughLikeLoki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughLikeLoki/gifts).



> I should be working on my unfinished multi-chaps, I know. But _ScarletVision kids_. I just really love SV kiddos, okay? Shout out to m friend Loki, who helped me name the twins.

Parenting two kids in high school was rough. One of them was going through the phase where she joined too many clubs, while the other was just sitting idly by and becoming the art kid everyone picked on. It was a drastic difference, and their poor parents were lost.

 

Marya and Erik Maximoff were pretty much the opposite. Marya was the bold, out-going one who always voiced her feelings, while Erik was the quiet one who always had his sketchbook within reach. They couldn’t be more different, and yet they were the best of friends. It was weird, but twins were like that sometimes. Their mother and their uncle had been the same way, though they were more similar than Marya and Erik.

 

An odd thing people singled out about the twins was that they had been given their mother’s last name. They thought that Wanda Maximoff was ashamed of her husband, thus giving their children her name, when, in fact, it was the opposite. Wanda had married the younger Stark brother, Jonas, and the pair chose to give the children her last name to keep them away from the media drama that surrounded the Stark family. No one the twins interacted with knew that, and that was how it was going to stay.

 

Well, it stayed like that until the twins were in their junior year. They were being picked up from school at lunch for an appointment, and Wanda was stuck at work for the day, so Jonas had to come pick them up. Jonas made a point of visiting the school as little as possible during school hours, not wanting to draw suspicion. However, this time was necessary.

 

Marya and Erik were waiting out front of the school with their backpacks when Jonas pulled up. They both climbed into the backseat of Jonas’ car, greeting their father as they did up their seat belts.

 

“Mama at work, Papa?” Marya asked, though she didn’t sound disappointed.

 

“She is, yes. She got tied up in a meeting and asked me to bring the two of you to your appointment,” Jonas nodded, pulling away from the school. The drive to the optometrist’s was silent, save the radio playing an Alan Jackson song.

 

Marya undid her seat belt as soon as the car was turned off, stepping out and waiting for her father and brother. Marya really liked visiting the optometrist, because she enjoyed trying on glasses while she waited for it to be her turn to talk to Dr. Davis.

 

Jonas shook his head with a fond chuckle as the three headed inside, always amused by Marya’s excitement. He went to the receptionist to tell her they had arrived, and she told him that Dr. Davis would be ready for one of them in about ten minutes. Nodding, Jonas went to sit in one of the chairs and watch Marya.

 

Marya took off her own glasses and placed them on one of the tables, picking up another pair from the display to try on. They were rather large and dark, and they looked ridiculous on her. With a shake of her head, she put them back and tried another pair. She tried on a few other pairs before Dr. Davis called her back, at which point she put her own back on and followed her.

 

Erik, meanwhile, was sitting peacefully at a table with his personal sketchbook, working on something he had started a few days ago. It was an anniversary present for his parents, as their anniversary was that coming Friday. The drawing depicted a recreation of one of their wedding photos, which Erik had snapped a quick picture of as a reference. The one he picked was the one that Uncle Tony had take during the ceremony, where Mama and Papa were holding hands and facing each other with enough love in their eyes to drown a fish. It was adorable, and Erik wanted to do something special for their 20th anniversary.

 

When Marya came back out, she went straight to the last pair of glasses she’d tried on, putting them back on for Dr. Davis to see. They looked like ‘nerd glasses’, the top half being black and the bottom a scarlet red. Turned out that Marya’s prescription had changed enough for her to need a new pair, and she had gravitated towards that pair.

 

Erik was called in next, closing his sketchbook and sliding it into his backpack before he went back. He didn’t want Papa to see what he was working on.

 

When Erik came out, he still didn’t need glasses. As Jonas went to the desk to order the new frames and lenses for Marya, Erik collected his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He made sure his sketchbook was still in there, not wanting to lose it.

 

At home, Erik went up to his room to hang his backpack on his desk chair and pull out his sketchbook. Sitting at his desk, he went right back to working on the drawing, wanting it to be absolutely perfect for Friday. He had four days to finish it, and he was going to work on it whenever possible.

 

In the next room over, Marya had flopped down on her bed with her phone, playing solitaire for a while. She was bored, and she had nothing else to do, so she played solitaire. After a while, she turned her radio on just as ‘Song For Another Time’ by Old Dominion started playing. With an excited squeak, she started singing along with her favourite song.

 

When Wanda finally got home from work, Erik closed his sketchbook and ran downstairs to give her a hug. He did that every day, ever since he was little. Wanda just chuckled and hugged him back, kissing the top of his head.

 

“Hello to you too, liebling,” she chuckled softly. “How did your appointment go today?”

 

“Marya needs new glasses,” Erik shrugged, pulling away from his mother. “I still don’t need any. The usual deal.”

 

“I swear her eyes just keep getting worse,” Wanda sighed. “What will we do when she needs bifocals again?”

 

“I know what she’d do,” Erik commented. “Cry. She would cry.” Marya hadn’t had bifocals since she was seven, and if she had to get them again, she would most certainly cry, because bifocals were a death sentence waiting to happen.

 

“Indeed she may,” Wanda chuckled, making her way to the living room. Jonas was sitting on the couch with the family beagle curled up on his lap, watching a game show on TV. Wanda sat quietly beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

 

“I do not know why do you enjoy these so much, darling,” she mused, looking up at her husband’s face.

 

“They are entertaining,” Jonas told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Watching people stumble and give ridiculous answers. This man answered a math question with ‘goldfish’ because he was nervous,” he added, gesturing to the TV.

 

“’Goldfish’? Really?” Wanda chuckled. “Must be very nervous.”

 

The two fell silent, just cuddled together on the couch and watching game shows. Erik had gone back upstairs to his bedroom, and Marya hadn’t come down yet. The beagle, Vision, let out a small whine to let Wanda know he wanted attention, so she scratched the back of his head, right where he liked it. He let out a contented noise, falling back asleep in Jonas’ lap.


	2. Chapter 2

On Friday morning, Wanda and Jonas woke up to their children sitting at the foot of their bed. Erik held a wrapped gift, while Marya had a tray sitting next to her with a couple bowls of oatmeal and some juice. When the noticed their parents were awake, Marya carefully picked up the tray and brought it to them. Wanda and Jonas sat up and exchanged a look.

 

“Happy anniversary!” Marya beamed, placing the tray between them and giving them quick hugs.

 

“Thank you, liebling,” Wanda smiled, hugging her daughter. Erik got up on the bed as well, sitting at Jonas’ feet and handing him the gift he had.

 

“Open it,” Erik urged, watching his parents expectantly. Jonas carefully untied the ribbon that Marya had probably tied, passing the gift to Wanda so she could neatly remove the wrapping paper.

 

Once the wrapping paper was off, the two got a good look at the contents. There, in a beautiful frame, was a near-perfect recreation of one of their wedding pictures, done entirely in pencil. The frame was wooden, the two longer sides painted gold and the two shorter ones painted red. The top of the frame read ‘Mama and Papa- 1996’, while the bottom read ‘I love you’, which was written in marker.

 

Wanda felt tears forming in her eyes as she studied the drawing. She knew Erik was an excellent artist, but she had no idea he could be this precise with just a set of pencils. She motioned for Erik to come closer, too overcome with emotion to speak. She wrapped him in a tight hug when he was close enough, smiling.

 

“It is perfect,” she muttered when she pulled back. There was a stray tear that trailed down her cheek, which she wiped away with her sleeve. “Thank you.”

 

Erik beamed. “Of course. It’s your 20th anniversary. I wanted to do something big and nice.”

 

“You did wonderfully,” Jonas assured him, also motioning Erik over so he could give his son a hug.

 

Marya chuckled, shaking her head fondly. She wasn’t an artist, so she couldn’t do anything grand like Erik had, but she did have something for her parents. She reached into her pockets and pulled out two boxes. She handed one to each parent, smiling broadly.

 

Wanda opened her box first, lifting out a silver chain that held a heart-shaped pendant encrusted with a single ruby in the center. It was beautiful yet simple, which was what most of Wanda’s jewelry was.

 

Inside Jonas’ box was a set of silver cuff links. One held an emerald, while the other held a yellow topaz. Jonas wore a lot of cuff links for work, so they would definitely get a lot of use.

 

“It is beautiful,” Wanda muttered, admiring the necklace before she had Jonas help her put it on. Once it was on, she placed her hand over it, smiling. “Where did you find it?”

 

“A pawn shop, actually,” Marya told her. “I saw it and thought of you. And I got the cuff links specially made, since most sets are made with the same inlay.”

 

“That is very thoughtful of you,” Jonas smiled, hugging Marya. Once he was done hugging her, Wanda hugged her and smiled.

 

“Do you two not have to get out for the bus soon?” Wanda reminded them. The twins’ eyes widened as they checked the clock.

 

“Oh no,” Marya muttered, scrambling off the bed and bolting for the door, Erik following behind her. They had five minutes to get out to the bus if they were going to make it to school on time, so they had to hurry.

 

When the kids left the room, Wanda and Jonas finally took the time to eat the breakfast they had brought, even though some of the juice had spilled in the process of hugging. The oatmeal was brown sugar, their favourite, with little chocolate chips in it the way Wanda did for Marya and Erik when they were little.

 

After they finished breakfast, they climbed out of bed themselves to get ready for work. Wanda went to the closet to get dressed, while Jonas headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he came out, Wanda was out of the closet and buttoning up a light pink blouse in the full-length mirror on the door, her hair pulled up in a twist. Jonas got dressed, locating his favourite scarlet red tie to wear. It was a gift from Wanda for their tenth anniversary, and he was rather fond of it.

 

They were both dressed in a matter of ten minutes, heading out of the bedroom. Vision was lying on the couch when they got downstairs, having gone back to sleep after Erik had fed him.

 

At the front door, Wanda and Jonas shared a quick kiss as they put their shoes on.

 

“Happy anniversary,” Jonas smiled. “20 years. And Tony thought we would only last ten,” he chuckled.

 

“Darling, your brother is an idiot,” Wanda chuckled. “I love you, and I am positive we will last for a good, long time.”

 

Sharing one last kiss, the two headed for their separate cars to get to work. Jonas had a meeting at Stark Industries that afternoon, meaning he had to spend the morning telling Tony what _not_ to do. Wanda’s boss had her filing paperwork in the archives, which meant she’d be covered in dust by the end of her shift.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonas is a sentimental dork. That's all.

At work that day, Jonas actually managed to not get annoyed with his older brother. Tony was usually extremely irritating, especially when it came to meetings, but Jonas was just so happy that Tony wasn’t bothering him in the slightest. Just before the meeting, Tony finally made a comment on it.

 

“What’s got you so happy, little bro?” Tony asked innocently.

 

“Do you own a calendar?” Jonas asked dryly. “It is my 20th wedding anniversary.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Tony muttered. “How’s Wanda, by the way? Haven’t seen her in a while.”

 

“She is wonderful as ever,” Jonas told him with a small smile.

 

“Good, good,” Tony nodded, just as people started filing into the conference room for the meeting. “Be sure to give her my best,” he said quickly before the room filled up and he had to start the meeting.

 

Through the entire meeting, Jonas had to keep Tony from doing something stupid, as usual. At one point, he tried to convince Harry Osborn, the CEO of Oscorp, that investing in a new project he was starting would be a good idea. Tony’s new project involved some very dangerous things, so Jonas made sure Harry said no.

 

The end of the meeting couldn’t have come sooner. Tony did end up irritating Jonas during the meeting, which was nothing unusual. Jonas went back to his office and took something for his budding headache, turning to his computer to type up some reports from the lab techs downstairs.

 

While he was typing up the reports, there was a knock on his door. Pausing, he looked towards the door with a frown.

 

“Come in,” he called, trying not to sound confused. Who would be knocking on his door at that time?

 

The door pushed open, and Tony’s wife stepped into Jonas’ office. She had a smile on her face, and an envelope in hand. She placed it on Jonas’ desk, which let him see the neat cursive spelling of his name.

 

“I heard it was your anniversary,” Pepper said. “I forced your brother to sign it,” she added jokingly.

 

Jonas grabbed his letter opener and carefully opened the envelope, pulling out a card. The front had a bouquet of flowers drawn on it, with the number 20 written in neat letters. Inside the card, it read ‘wishing you well on 20 years, here’s to 20 more’. Underneath that, Pepper and Tony had signed it. Next to Tony’s signature was a little smiley face, which made Jonas chuckle.

 

“Thank you, Pepper. I am sure Wanda will appreciate that Tony did something,” Jonas commented. “Her own brother will probably be at our home for quite some time tonight.”

 

“Knowing Pietro, that’s probably true,” Pepper agreed. “Well, I better go. Tony’s on the phone with Harry Osborn again.” With that, Pepper turned to leave with one last wave.

 

The rest of Jonas’ day went by uneventfully. He finished typing up the reports, went to check on the progress in the labs, and had lunch with Tony. He was sent home early so he could spend time with his wife, as Pepper had phrased it, so he wasn’t going to question it. Wanda wouldn’t get off work for another few hours, and the kids wouldn’t be home for another hour after that. That gave him a few hours to get everything together for the surprise he had planned for Wanda and set it up, and made sure Vision didn’t come and ruin it.

 

Once he got home, Jonas changed out of his suit and into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. He placed the cuff links Marya had got him on his dresser, making sure they were safe and wouldn’t get lost.

 

After getting changed, Jonas went into the basement to look for a particular box of old photographs, which was labeled ‘1985-1999’. He grabbed that box and brought it upstairs, brushing the dust and cobwebs off before he placed it on the dining room table.

 

The box hadn’t been opened since they moved into the new house five years ago, so the packing tape holding it closed was unbroken. Carefully, he used a pair of scissors to open it, pulling back the flaps and smiling at the contents. Inside the box was about a dozen or so scrapbooks and photo albums Wanda had made, starting in 1985 when they’d met. Wanda loved doing that kind of thing, always carrying around a camera so she could take pictures for them.

 

Jonas was looking for three specific albums in the box, which were near the top. The covers of each album declared the year and/or event it chronicled, which made it easy for him to find the three he needed:

 

_Senior Prom May 29_ _th_ _1989_

 

_Spring 1994_

 

_Our Wedding May 11_ _th_ _, 1996_

 

Placing the other albums back into the box, Jonas placed the box on the other and of the table and sat down, opening the first album. The first picture made him chuckle, as it was the goofiest picture they had taken before they went to prom. Wanda, as was the style of the time, wore a scarlet red dress with very puffy short sleeves and a ruffled skirt that stopped at her knees. Jonas was wearing a black suit his mother had gotten him, as well as a matching scarlet tie. In the background of the picture, Wanda’s twin brother Pietro was wearing a silver suit and a blue tie, making a funny face at the camera just as Wanda’s mother had taken the picture. He carefully slid that one out of the sleeve, placing it on the table.

 

The next picture he took out was of their first slow dance of the night. Pietro had grabbed Wanda’s camera from where she’d left it before the dance, snapping the perfect picture of the two. Wanda’s head was resting against Jonas’ chest, a smile on her face as Jonas rested his chin on her head. That was placed in the pile on top of the first, and that album was closed.

 

The _Spring 1994_ album was one of Jonas’ personal favourite, as it had some of the last pictures of his mother within. Maria Stark had died alongside her husband in late 1994 in a car crash, meaning there were very few pictures of her after this album.

 

However, there was one picture Jonas was looking for in that album, and he found it about halfway through. The picture was taken by Tony, who had brought his own camera so he could get the picture. In the background was the sunset over the lake, the purples and oranges highlighting the picture. The actual event the picture captured was Jonas’ proposal, with him down on one knee and Wanda nearly crying with a hand over her mouth. Pietro was in the very corner of the shot, shooting Jonas a thumbs up.

 

In the _Our Wedding_ album, Jonas took out a copy of the photograph Erik had drawn for them, as well as a few others. One of them was a picture of Jonas with white frosting and little bits of red velvet cake on his face before Wanda smashed a piece into his nose, which Pietro had taken. Another one was their first dance as a married couple, which reminded Jonas that he had something else to do for his surprise. The last picture was of the two of them with Wanda’s father, the last remaining parent on either side. Erik Maximoff gave one of his very rare smiles, looking so proud of his daughter.

 

Collecting up his stack of pictures, Jonas put the box in the hall closet and grabbed his car keys. He needed to take these to get photocopied properly, and pick something up while he was at Walmart.

 

By the time he got home, Jonas had about an hour and a half before Wanda got home. Putting all of the original pictures back in their albums, he brought the box back down to the basement and got to work. He located his one-hole punch and a reel of red ribbon, measuring out different lengths for each picture. He tied one of each ribbon to the pictures, leaving the other ends untied for now.

 

Once they were all tied, he picked them up and brought them up to the bedroom. Each one was carefully stuck to the ceiling so they wouldn’t fall, leaving them dangling at different heights.

 

With that done, Jonas had an hour left for everything else. He set up his phone with the little speaker in their bedroom, setting it to play one particular song when he pressed play. After that was done, he went back downstairs to let Vision out before he moved on.

 

Over the next 45 minutes, Jonas changed again, but it was only his shirt. He kept on the jeans, but swapped his green t-shirt for a darker green polo with dark gold stripes. He then found a bottle of wine and two glasses, bringing them upstairs to the bedroom.

 

The last thing Jonas needed to do was sort out the flowers he had bought. Wanda was allergic to pollen, so Jonas had bought a few bouquets of fake flowers to arrange in a vase. There were red and lavender roses, edelweiss, heliotrope, myrtle, and violets. Each different flower had its own meaning, which Jonas was sure Wanda would appreciate. One of her hobbies was learning the meanings of flowers, and Jonas already knew from his childhood.

 

The bouquet was placed on the nightstand on Wanda’s side of the bed, with a little card stuck in it. It had a cute little message from Jonas handwritten on it, as well as a little doodle of a heart.

 

Just as Jonas placed the bouquet down, the front door opened and closed. Vision started barking from the living room, meaning Wanda was home. Jonas made his way downstairs to see Wanda sitting at the bottom of the stairs with Vision at her feet as she tried to take off her shoes.

 

“Move, puppy,” Wanda giggled softly, lightly pushing the beagle off her feet. “Mama has to take her shoes off before she can play with you.”

 

Jonas watched quietly, a smile on his face. Wanda treated Vision like a baby, but it was adorable.

 

Vision moved with an annoyed huff, allowing Wanda to take off her shoes. Once she did, he placed his front paws on her lap and started licking her face excitedly as Wanda scratched behind his ears.

 

“Yes, yes, did you miss Mama while she was at work?” Wanda hummed. “Mama missed you. Where is Papa, Vision? Is he home?”

 

“I am,” Jonas called down the stairs, which made Wanda turn to look at him with a smile. “Welcome home, love. I see Vision has already greeted you,” he teased.

 

Wanda stood up when Vision decided to go sleep on the couch again, climbing the stairs to stand next to Jonas at the top. She rested her head on his side, being too short to reach his shoulder. Jonas wrapped an arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

 

“I have a surprise for you,” Jonas muttered after a few minutes.

 

“A surprise?” Wanda said with a raised eyebrow, though she sounded excited.

 

“Follow me,” Jonas nodded, taking her by the hand and leading her to the bedroom. He made her close her eyes while he went to his phone and hit play, and she wasn’t allowed to open them until he was back at her side.

 

As soon as Wanda heard what song he had played, she felt another surge of excitement. He was playing their wedding song, the one they played during their first dance. Garth Brooks’ voice played from the speakers, the sound of ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ familiar and comforting.

 

“Okay, you can open your eyes,” Jonas smiled, kissing her cheek. Wanda opened her eyes, letting out a small gasp. The curtains were drawn, so the only light was from the bulb above the bed. The pictures hanging from the ceiling caught her attention, so she moved closer to investigate. Each one made her smile, and she turned back to Jonas afterwards.

 

“You did all of this?” Wanda asked in surprise. “Between the time you got home and now?”

 

Jonas nodded with a pleased smile. “I took a trip to Walmart for photocopies, so you don’t need to worry about the pictures in the albums,” he commented, knowing she would’ve believed they were the originals if he hadn’t told her.

 

“I love it,” Wanda smiled, resting her hands on Jonas’ hips and standing on the tips of her toes to kiss him. “And I love you,” she muttered against his lips.

 

“I love you too,” Jonas smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

A week after Wanda and Jonas’ anniversary, Erik came home from school with a broken nose and a black eye. Wanda was immediately at his side, fussing over him and making sure he wasn’t too badly injured.

 

“Mama, I’m fine,” Erik insisted, batting her hands away.

 

“Your nose is broken, liebling. You are not fine,” Wanda said sternly. “What happened?”

 

Erik sighed, wincing as Wanda inspected his nose. “One of the football players did it,” he muttered, hoping she didn’t hear.

 

“Why would he do that?” Wanda frowned.

 

“He thought I was flirting with his girlfriend,” Erik sighed.

 

“Were you?” Wanda asked, though she was frowning.

 

“No, Mama!” Erik said honestly. “I was asking her about our physics homework.”

 

Wanda sighed, kissing his forehead. “Go see your father. He will get you something for your nose, and that nasty black eye.”

 

Erik nodded, going to find Jonas. Wanda went to find Marya to see if she knew anything else. She found Marya in the den, watching cartoon and eating a bowl of chips.

 

“Marya, do you know what happened to Erik?” Wanda called, leaning on the door frame.

 

Looking up at her mother, Marya paused the TV and turned to face her. “Xavier Williams happened to him,” she sighed. “Xavier thought Erik was flirting with his girlfriend, Tanya, but he wasn’t. Erik doesn’t even know _how_ to flirt.”

 

“Did he get punched twice?” Wanda frowned. “He has a broken nose and a black eye.”

 

Marya nodded. “When he tried to tell Xavier he wasn’t flirting, he got punched again.”

 

Wanda sighed. “I should call your principal,” she muttered, turning to head back to the living room. Erik was sitting under the window, an ice pack pressed against his face. Wanda sat next to him, sighing. She didn’t say anything, wanting to wait for Erik to say something.

 

After a while, Erik turned to face Wanda, taking the ice pack off his face and holding it in his lap. “I wasn’t flirting with her Mama, I swear,” he muttered. “I wouldn’t flirt with her. Not just because she has a boyfriend, but because… because she’s a girl.” He whispered the last part, looking down at the ice pack in his hands.

 

“Erik...” Wanda muttered, placing a hand over his. “There is nothing wrong with that. Many boys do not wish to flirt with girls, like your Uncle Pietro,” she reminded him, brushing some of his messy brown hair away from his bright blue eyes.

 

“I know, Mama. I just… don’t want the kids at school to know,” Erik sighed.

 

“You do not have to tell them anything. They are not entitled to know anything about your personal life,” Wanda told him gently. “Your personal life is your own, and nobody else’s.”

 

“Unless you’re Uncle Tony,” Erik commented. “Then your personal life is everyone’s personal life.”

 

“That is true,” Wanda agreed with a small chuckle. “Now, do you have any homework?”

 

Erik shook his head. “Nope. I was thinking about starting a new drawing though.”

 

“What did you want to draw?” Wanda asked.

 

“I was thinking about drawing Vision,” Erik smiled. “I haven’t drawn him in a while.”

 

“I would love to see it when it is done,” Wanda smiled.

 

“Then I’ll go get started,” Erik smiled, getting up and heading up to his bedroom.

 

Wanda went to find Vision, who was in the kitchen making dinner. She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder.

 

“Erik got punched today,” she sighed. Jonas turned to face her, frowning.

 

“What did he do?” he frowned.

 

“One of the football players thought he was flirting with his girlfriend,” Wanda told him. “But he told me he was asking about physics homework.”

 

“I see,” Jonas muttered. “Would you like to help with dinner? I am making lasagna.”

 

“I would love to,” Wanda smiled, moving to stand beside him. She grabbed the block of cheese Jonas had been grating, along with the cheese grater, and continued for him. As she did that, Jonas got a pot of water for the noodles and placed it on the stove.

 

Two hours later, the family was sitting around the table eating. Erik was pushing his food around his plate, not wanting to eat. He had lost his appetite, as he wanted to tell Marya and Jonas what he had told Wanda.

 

Jonas noticed that Erik wasn’t eating, turning to look at him. “Erik, is everything alright?”

 

“No,” Erik muttered, shaking his head.

 

“What is bothering you?” Jonas asked gently.

 

Erik took a deep breath before he spoke. “Mama probably told you what happened to me at school today. I wasn’t flirting with her, I would never flirt with her. She’s a girl. I… I’m gay,” he muttered, rushing his words and looking down at his plate as he spoke.

 

Jonas’ entire demeanor changed from worry to understanding, and he reached over and placed a hand over Erik’s.

 

“There is nothing wrong with that,” Jonas told him. “Your Uncle is gay, and we still love him.”

 

“Well, sometimes I wonder if you do,” Erik joked, wanting to lighten the mood.

 

Jonas chuckled softly. “I do. I just sometimes question it.”

 

Marya kicked Erik’s shin lightly under the table, getting him to look at her. “Erik, don’t worry. We still love you, and I’m sure Uncle Pietro and Uncle Tony will too.”

 

Erik smiled at his sister, relief settling in his chest. He knew they wouldn’t care, but it felt wonderful to hear it out loud.

 

After that, dinner went on as usual. When they were finished, Wanda dug out a carton of vanilla ice cream and some caramel sauce as a special treat, and they all watched cartoons as they ate dessert.

 

The next day was Saturday, and Uncle Pietro was coming over. He came by every Saturday like clockwork, always at noon when he got off work. Erik was especially excited to see him, because he wanted to tell his Uncle what he told his parents and Marya the night before.

 

When Pietro got there, Marya and Erik ambushed him at the door, hugging him tightly.

 

“Uncle Pietro!” they grinned.

 

“Hey, kiddos,” Pietro chuckled, ruffling their hair. The twins may be nearly 17, but they would always be kiddos to him.

 

The twins let him go so he could take his shoes off. Once they were off, one twin took each of his hands and pulled him towards the living room. He was pushed onto the couch next to Wanda, a confused look on his face.

 

“What’s going on?” Pietro frowned.

 

“Erik has something to tell you,” Marya answered.

 

“What would that be?” Pietro asked, tilting his head.

 

Erik sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of Pietro, taking a quick deep breath. “You’re not the only gay Maximoff,” he said, watching as a grin spread across Pietro’s face.

 

“I’m proud of you, squirt,” Pietro grinned. “It takes a lot of courage to do that. It took me until I was in my 20s to finally tell my family. They took it pretty okay. Oma Edie fussed over me for a few weeks after that.”

 

“That was adorable,” Wanda commented in amusement. “Whenever we went to see her, she would make little rainbow cupcakes to show her support.”

 

“I remember that!” Pietro grinned. “And one time for our birthday, she made a rainbow cake. I love that woman,” he commented fondly.

 

“She was wonderful,” Wanda agreed.

 

The rest of Pietro’s visit consisted of Cards Against Humanity, which Pietro won by a landslide. When Pietro went home, Erik went upstairs to draw again, having an idea for a new sketch.


	5. Chapter 5

They say all good things must come to an end. Wanda had been hoping this good thing, keeping the twins away from the media, wouldn’t come to an end. But of course, sending Jonas to pick the twins up at school had been a pretty bad idea. Apparently, one of the students got a picture of him as he pulled up, and a few more after the twins got in the car. The media had sat on those pictures for nearly two weeks, probably wanting more information before they published the story. The paper the pictures had been sold to finally ran a story at the two-week mark, filling in the blanks with whatever bullshit they thought of.

 

Walking into the grocery store, Wanda happened to catch the sight of Jonas on a magazine cover out of the corner of her eye. She always noticed when he was on magazine covers. Approaching the magazine rack, she took the first copy out to inspect the cover. Bad idea, as the headline made her blood run cold with fear:

 

‘Jonas Stark Kidnapping High School Students?’

 

With shaking hands, Wanda quickly paid for the magazine and went back home. She could get groceries later. Right then, she needed to talk to Jonas and read that article. The drive home was a bit distracted, and she nearly got pulled over. Luckily, she made it home without that, hurrying inside with her purse and the magazine.

 

“Jonas?” she called out, almost frantically.

 

“Living room!” Jonas called back, concerned.

 

Wanda dashed to the living room, tossing the magazine on Jonas’ lap. “I found this when I went shopping,” she told him, sitting down so she wouldn’t fall from shaking so much.

 

Jonas read the headline and frowned considerably, glancing down at the picture that accompanied it. He ran a hand through his dark hair, sighing deeply.

 

“Fuck,” he muttered. Jonas very rarely swore, and if he did swear, he never said ‘fuck’. Wanda hadn’t heard him say that word since before the twins were born. A 17-year streak of no f-bombs was broken by a single tabloid article.

 

With his frown still in place, Jonas flipped to the article within the magazine, reading it out loud to Wanda. It claimed Jonas had coerced two high school students (Marya and Erik) into his car while they were standing outside the school during lunch and drove off without a word. The article also said the twins didn’t put up a fight, simply getting into the car. There was no photo credit, so Jonas had no idea which student snapped the picture.

 

Wanda was still shaking nervously by the end of the article. It was finally time to come clean about the twins.

 

“They have to know,” Wanda sighed, resting her forehead against Jonas’ shoulder. “I cannot let them do this to your image. You could go to prison!”

 

“I know, my love,” Jonas sighed. “We must discuss this with the twins when they got home from school, choose the best way of doing this.”

 

Wanda nodded, falling silent. Jonas did as well, simply staring at the cover of the magazine with disdain.

 

The twins got home twenty minutes later, finding their parents in the living room in the same position they had been after they read the article.

 

“Mama? Papa?” Marya frowned in concern. “Is everything alright?”

 

Wanda looked up at the twins, motioning for them to sit down. “No, nothing is alright,” she admitted. She was always honest with the twins, not being a fan of sugar-coating the truth. She simply handed them the magazine and let them read for themselves.

 

“It is time we tell the public about you two,” Jonas sighed. “There is no other solution to this issue,” he added, gesturing to the magazine.

 

Erik nervously bit his lip, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to be shoved into the public eye, but he knew it would be worse if Papa was investigated for kidnapping.

 

Marya pushed her glasses up her nose as she read, a scowl on her face. “Whoever wrote this needs to learn what fact-checking is,” she muttered, throwing the magazine onto the coffee table in disgust.

 

“I know, liebling,” Wanda sighed. She didn’t want this, but it was inevitable from the day Wanda found out she was pregnant with the twins. “How should we do this? What should we do?”

 

“We could get Papa to call the magazine to clear things up,” Erik suggested. “Then again, they might not believe him… Maybe an interview with the magazine here at home? Wait no, we don’t want those snakes knowing where we live,” he rambled, hands moving in front of him as he spoke.

 

“The media already knows that your father and I are married,” Wanda commented. “We could do an interview with the magazine and talk about the two of you.”

 

“That might work...” Jonas muttered, tapping his fingers on his leg.

 

“We could get Uncle Tony to help,” Marya suggested. “The media loves him, and they believe most of the bull he tells them.”

 

“I am sure my brother would gladly help us,” Jonas nodded.

 

“I guess it has been settled,” Wanda mused. “We get Tony’s help.”

 

Tony was at the house within the hour, a box of donuts in hand as always. He brought donuts every time he came by the house for Marya and Erik, a habit he’d picked up when they started eating solid food.

 

Pacing the living room, Tony was scratching his chin as he tried to figure out what to do.

 

“When Mom was expecting Jonas, she told one reporter,” Tony started. “It was a reporter she trusted, one that she knew would publish a good article. Other reporters read the article and went to Mom for confirmation. That’s how everyone found out about Jonas. At least, that’s what Mom told us when were were little.”

 

“Do you know any reporters we can trust?” Wanda asked, frowning.

 

“There’s the reporter Mom told, he’s still around,” Tony commented. “Ben Urich. Good man.”

 

“Where is he working?” Jonas asked.

 

“The New York Bulletin, if I remember correctly,” Tony answered. “I could probably set something up within the day.”

 

“Please do. The longer this lingers, the more people will believe it,” Wanda nodded. Tony nodded back, fishing his phone out of his pocket to start making calls.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony set up a meeting with Ben Urich for the next day, as it was the earliest he was available. He’d switched to crime reporting not long after Maria spoke to him in 1971, so he was doing this as a favour to Maria Stark’s children. The meeting was going to happen in Ben’s office, and he would ‘leak’ the information to the tabloids.

 

The entire morning before, Wanda was nervously cleaning the house. She swept floors, scrubbed walls, anything to take her mind off of it. When it was finally time to head out, Jonas had to pry a mop out of her hands. She cleaned when she was nervous, though she never usually cleaned that much, meaning she was more nervous than she had ever been.

 

They finally made it to Ben’s office five minutes before they were supposed to be, Wanda nursing a travel mug of chamomile tea to calm her nerves. Jonas knocked on the door to Ben’s office, and Ben called them in a moment later.

 

Inside the office, Wanda and Jonas were told to sit across from Ben, who regarded Jonas with a fond look.

 

“Jonas Stark. I haven’t seen your mother’s funeral,” Ben said, smiling slightly. “I see you’ve been doing well for yourself.”

 

“It is nice to see you again, Ben. Thank you for doing this for us,” Jonas nodded.

 

“I can’t let Maria’s son go under fire for someone’s mistake. She’d have smacked me if I said no,” Ben commented. Jonas chuckled fondly at that, nodding in agreement.

 

Ben set up a small tape recorder, switching it on as he began asking questions about the article. Wanda and Jonas answered them honestly, correcting the mistakes the article proclaimed.

 

When they were done, Jonas bid goodbye to Ben and headed out with Wanda. They ended up at a cafe not far from the newspaper office, ordering something for lunch.

 

One of the cafe’s other patrons noticed Jonas, recognizing him from the cover of the magazine. She rolled up the newspaper she had in her hand and stalked over to him, smacking the back of his head with it.

 

“How have you not been arrested yet?” she scowled, smacking him once more. “Kidnapping children. How cruel!”

 

“If you would kindly stop assaulting my husband...” Wanda muttered in annoyance. “There has been a misunderstanding. They are our children.”

 

The woman snorted, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Likely story. Were you forced to say that? Did he kidnap you too?”

 

Jonas glared at the woman, one of his steely glares that made even Wanda shiver. Before he could say anything, the owner of the cafe came out to see what the commotion was about. He was a friend of Jonas’ from high school that had kept in touch after graduation.

 

“What’s going on out here?” he frowned, glancing between Jonas, Wanda, and the woman.

 

“This woman came up to us and smacked Jonas with her newspaper, Hank,” Wanda sighed, glaring at the woman. “She took it upon herself to punish him for something he did not do.”

 

Hank raised an eyebrow before he realized what she meant. “Ma’am, if you would kindly back away from my friend there, I’m going to kindly ask you to leave my cafe. I don’t condone violence, least of all towards someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

 

The woman let out a frustrated huff, stomping over to her table to retrieve her purse. “Defending a kidnapper! How awful,” she muttered as she walked out, shooting Hank a glare before she left.

 

“Are you alright, Jonas?” Hank asked, frowning.

 

“I am fine, Hank. It was just a newspaper,” Jonas assured him. “She seemed to believe the tabloid article about the kids and thought I kidnapped Wanda and forced her to say they were our children.”

 

“That’s absurd,” Hank frowned. “The two of you have been married for what, 20 years now? You’d think she’d recognize Wanda too. You bring her to all the events your brother drags you to.”

 

“I know Hank. Some people are just clueless,” Jonas sighed.

 

“Well, if she comes back, I’ll give her a piece of my mind,” Hank decided. “I’ll go ask Jan about your lunch, she’ll want to hear about this.” With that, Hank headed back for the kitchen to talk to his wife, Janet, and grab their order.

 

After lunch, Wanda and Jonas returned home to relax. Wanda poured two glasses of red wine, settling on the couch with Jonas and handing him one of them.

 

“I had forgotten how stressful being well-known is,” Jonas commented. “Though it was much worse in my youth.”

 

“I remember when we first got together,” Wanda mused. “The media went crazy, thought it was all for show. Look how wrong they were, schatz. 28 years and two kids later, and we are still together and happy.”

 

Jonas smiled softly, kissing the top of Wanda’s head. “Indeed, my dear. We can only hope the media will listen to Ben now. He is rather reputable.”

 

“Exactly. Hope is all we have right now,” Wanda agreed. She settled herself back against Jonas, taking a sip of her wine as she located the TV remote. Switching the TV on, she navigated to Netflix for something to watch.

 

“How about Star Trek?” Jonas suggested. He adored Star Trek; he grew up watching the Next Generation with his mother and Tony, and he was pleased it was on Netflix.

 

“Which one? There are five,” Wanda reminded him.

 

“The original,” Jonas decided, taking the remote from Wanda and selecting the show he wanted. He pressed play on the episode they were watching last, Dagger of the Mind. They finished that one and watched a few more before the twins got home, at which point they turned off the TV and went to see if they needed help with their homework.


End file.
